Thermal Analysis of a Solar-Powered Absorption Air Conditioning System: Case Study for a Tent in Mina Zone, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The present study involved TRNSYS simulation for solar cooling with cold energy storage. It was applied to a hypothetical tent located in the Mina zone, KSA, where millions of Muslim pilgrims stay in these tents for a few days once a year. The required cooling demand was calculated based on Makkah climatic region for a tent that can include 150 persons for 7 days. Using TRNSYS software, the thermal transient model was created. The system consists of a solar thermal collector; absorption cooling chiller, cooling tower, storage tank and fan coil units. The results show that the required cooling capacity for the tent is about 70 kW (20 tons refrigeration) to keep the zone air temperature at 24 °C during summer days. It was also found that the cooling demand for the tent for 7 days in June is around 8,850 kWh. In addition, the effect of cold-water storage on the system performance was studied. Using a chilled water tank of 500 m3 has proved to minimize the absorption chiller capacity from 20 tons to 4.7 ton. Moreover, a PV system was designed to cover the electrical load of the considered absorption.